Matīši Airfield

The closure was a direct result of major economic and political changes following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The airfield was specifically built for agricultural aviation to serve the local Soviet-era collective farms (kolkhozes). With the restoration of Latvia's independence in 1991 and the subsequent dismantling of the collective farm system, the centralized, state-run agricultural aviation infrastructure became obsolete and economically unsustainable. The demand for its services vanished, leading to its abandonment.

The airfield is closed and abandoned. The original 400-meter asphalt runway remains visible but is in a state of severe disrepair, with numerous cracks and vegetation growing through the surface. The site is not maintained for aviation and is unusable in its current condition. The surrounding land is actively used for agriculture, and the former airfield grounds and any remaining support structures appear to be under private ownership, likely used for farming-related storage or as access roads.

Matīši Airfield was a typical Soviet agricultural airfield, known in Russian as a 'khimiodrom' (химиодром). Its sole purpose was to support the intensive, industrialized agriculture of the local collective farms. Operations primarily involved aircraft like the Antonov An-2, used for aerial application (crop dusting) of fertilizers and pesticides over large tracts of land. It was part of a vast network of hundreds of similar small airfields across the Latvian SSR, representing a critical component of the Soviet agricultural model. It had no scheduled passenger services or significant military importance.

There are no known official plans or realistic prospects for reopening Matīši Airfield. The runway is too short and degraded to meet modern aviation standards without significant investment. Given the lack of economic or strategic demand for an airfield in this specific rural location, and the land's effective reversion to agricultural use, its restoration is considered highly unlikely.